WA-TAC

Ok so I have 20 minutes and I still have to print emails so I can write people back and I also have to send pictures! So this may be short.

I love it here! It is amazing! Every part of it! My companion is absolutely amazing! Her name is Sister Sandau (sand dow), she is from Ogden, Ut and she is awesome. We have lots of fun. We are currently hitting the pavement trying to find new investigators (please pray we find some). We haven't had anyone too rude yet so that's really nice.

I am serving in Olympia 4th Ward. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE mail. (Hint hint feel free to write me at the mission address!) I can only write on p-day but I promise I will write back asap.

My very first impression of Olympia was a random guy with a little rat sized dog talking to a Mark Twain statue (we don't talk to the people who talk to themselves - don't worry mum)

I've had loads of fun but I'm sorry I'm out of time to write so sam will have to type up my letter I send and post it to my blog! 
 

Sorry I don't have any good pictures of me yet there's been wind and sun getting in the way.

P.s. it's been super sunny here.

More on WA-TAC:

So WA-TAC is awesome. People here are obsessed with dogs and they treat them like humans, that's weird. But its lots of fun here. 

We are hard at work. We knock doors 2 hours every day except Mondays. It only an hour then. We're up at 6:30. We literally roll out of bed and pray. We have to be really quiet. We practically can't do more than breathe. We live on the second floor of an apartment complex and our downstairs neighbor hates noise. She gets mad if we don't walk lightly.

While inconvenient, it is a blessing of learning to love everyone no matter what. 

Sister Sandau is my companion and she is amazing. She has been serving for 14 months. She's from Odgen, Ut and is a lot of fun. Love her! She is so great. 

We serve in Olympia 4th ward and live in Tumwater. Our ward boundaries are huge. There's typically 500 or so people at sacrament! I didn't realize how big the church is here. 

In the 6 days I've been in WA, it has only rained for a small part of one day. They've told me winter is when it really rains and gets green.

We are hoping to get a new investigator this week. She is currently a potential but we're hoping she'll feel the spirit. She has a Book of Mormon and we may be taking her on a church tour Wednesday! I'm so excited!

Anyways, all is well here. I love getting to see God's hand in everything in life. He is involved 100%. Sometimes things get hard and we feel like He isn't there for us, but that is when He is there 300%. He loves us and is waiting for us to turn to HIm. He is the ultimate parent who knows we have to learn before He can help. 

I love my Heavenly Father and am so grateful for the blessings He has given me. I am so grateful I get to share this beautiful gift with the people in WA-TAC. 

I pray everyone is well and ask that you pray for us to find those of God's children who are ready and waiting. Also, pray for yourself that you can know how you personally can help the missionaries in your area invite others to come unto Christ. 

Take Care!
-- 

Kaitlyn

The MTC

Hey everyone!

I cannot tell you how great it feels to be writing everyone! I never realized how much I took human contact for granted. We’re only allowed to write letters on p-day so that’s rough but it makes today my all time favourite day in the MTC (with Sundays a very close second).

Here’s a quick update.

So I got here Tuesday. That was rough. My flight from Springfield got delayed after I reached the gate. It didn’t leave for an hour in a half. I nearly missed my connecting flight but I made it just as my group was boarding. The Lord truly took care of me. While waiting on the delayed plane I met this sweet lady who was flying all the way to Salt Lake with me. When she heard me talking to the person at the boarding desk about how I had a connecting flight and then a shuttle that I needed to know if I was going to miss it. (I was very stressed that I would be stranded in the SLC airport until morning.) After telling me I really needed to own a cell phone (haha) Mrs. Smith seemed to adopt me as a daughter like figure and we spent the majority of the wait and the trip having a really nice conversation. We made it to SLC in time to catch out shuttles both of us very relieved. Before parting ways I got to share my testimony with her about how the church has pretty much saved my life. I shared some small instances. It was really cool to see how the simple words I was saying changed her entire countenance. She went from a small smile to a huge grin. I encouraged her to ask her LDS coworkers about the church and she said she would! I really hope she does. She seemed like a really amazing woman.

I finally arrived to the MTC to discover the airline or somebody at the airport ripped my suitcase. Thank goodness I have a sewing kit! Thanks Mum for making sure I have the basic skills to fix it.

Anyway I haven’t really slept at all here. The hall lights never turn off so it lights up the entire room. Maybe I’ll manage to take a nap on the plane Tuesday. We check out of our rooms and head to Salt Lake City Airport at 4:30am woohoo! I can’t wait to be in civilization again. We spend all day excluding 30” for lunch, dinner, and exercise in the same room. Can you say four wall syndrome?! Needly to say I’m a but stir crazy but not for too much longer!

Last Thursday we met our Branch President and his counselors. They are really cool and extremely loving. Sister Baldwin (my companion) and I were asked to be STL’s. We got to welcome the new missionaries to the MTC yesterday. We gave them the tour so they wouldn’t get lost. Or I should say we SHOULD have given them the tour. We let the zone leaders head it. Eighteen year old boys (elders or not) should not be in charge of a tour. They rushed through it and even got me all turned around on where we were and it’s a straight line from the building our classes are in to everything else we need.

When we got started on Wednesday everyone was telling us to just make it to Sunday and it would get better. That couldn’t have been more true. I’m still 100% exhausted and spend the majority of time standing behind my desk doing calf raises to stay awake but it actually feels like I can breathe and there’s an end in sight. It was amazing to see that actually happen.

I fount out I didn’t get all the information everyone else going to Tacoma did. All my information said about dress for meetings was that sisters were required to wear a blazer. Upon arriving here I discovered was a little more than that. We have to wear a solid black skirt with a solid white top and black blazer. Looks like eventually I’m going to have to buy another black skirt and white top. I just have one of each but it’ll do for now!

I love Sundays here! We get out of the classroom a little more. The sisters get to watch music and the spoken word (on Sunday they sang a few songs that weren’t hymns so that was really nice). It’s the most music I’ve hear in what seems like forever! I really miss music and dancing! During Relief Society we sang a version of “As Sisters in Zion” that was written specifically for Sister missionaries. It was cool. I love it. They sing it every Sunday here.

Overall I’m doing really well. I wish I had more time to give you details on what I’ve learned but that would take a week to type it all out! I’ll tell you this through I’ve nearly filled an entire notebook.

One little funny side note people here don’t believe I’m from Missouri because I speak too proper. That made me happy to know I don’t sound like a redneck! I actually had someone ask if I was from Britain. (They must have been sleep deprived).

Kaitlyn

Entering the MTC

So we only have 5 minutes but I figured I’d let you know I’m alive. The MTC is good. The food leaves something to be desired just like Tara said but my companion Sister Baldwin is great and lots of fun. I am super tired and have nearly slap happy status. I was laughing so hard I nearly cried. It was evidence of my exhaustion. Especially since I can’t remember what was so funny. Anyway our pday is next Thursday so I will email then!

The end.

Love you all.

Kaitlyn

Contact Information

John 15:15-16

"15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

I know with all my heart that these verses speak the truth. We are not the Lord's servants, we are His friends even His children. That is why we do His work. We serve Him because we LOVE Him. He is our Eternal Father and is there ready to give us a kingdom of our own so long as we follow Him righteously. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church that has the fullness of the truth and complete gospel. I know that this is true because I have asked it for myself and found that there is not a doubt in me. I know that through Joseph Smith, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ restore the crucial keys needed to obtain the true fullness. I am so grateful for this knowledge I have found to be the truth through prayer, study, and personal experiences.

I would love to stay in touch with anyone who wants to as I begin this exciting journey. Here is the current ways to contact me.

Mission Email: kaitlyn.jones@myldsmail.net

MTC Address:
Sister Kaitlyn Melissa Louise JOnes
JUL22 WA-TAC
2009 N 900 E Unit 191
Provo, UT
84602

Mission Home Address (This is the address you can write any time to have your letters forwarded to Sister Jones - though they will take a while to reach me) :
Sister Kaitlyn Melissa Louise Jones
Washington Tacoma Mission
4007 Bridgeport Way W Ste. D
University Place, WA
98466-4330

***If writing the mission home or the MTC please include middle names to avoid letters getting lost as there is more than one Kaitlyn Jones serving in this mission.When writing to direct addresses middle names are not necessary.

***Direct addresses will be posted as they come.

***dearelder.com allows you to write any missionary in the MTC for absolutely no cost with same day delivery! And once out of the MTC the only cost is that of the postage stamp! Just so you have the option.